


Iridescent

by Kivea



Category: South Park
Genre: 20-something crisis, Alien!Kyle, Alternate Universe - Space, Cryle Week 2020, M/M, Road Trip, Science Fiction, it's a little fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:07:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24113275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kivea/pseuds/Kivea
Summary: Day 1: Space/Road TripDelivering Stan's alien friend half way across the cluster was not how Craig planned on spending his evening after a long day at work.Yet, there he was, sat in his ship, staring into the golden eyes, trying to comfort him.Reluctantly.
Relationships: Kyle Broflovski/Craig Tucker
Comments: 12
Kudos: 56
Collections: Cryle Week 2020





	Iridescent

**Author's Note:**

> Cryle Week Day 1: Space/Road Trip

Craig huffed out as he dropped the last canister, wiping his brow before looking out across the rest of the station. Things were winding down, the artificial lighting dimming to signal the shift from a day cycle to a night cycle. The closest planet to them that they mimicked the hours of had particularly long nights, so he often found he spent much of his day in this dim lighting. 

It suited him well enough. 

Where he worked was on a fuelling station, though it was big enough that it doubled as a maintenance garage, where he specialised. Being a ship engineer that worked on a station instead of a ship wasn’t exactly what he had in mind on a career path, but it was something that he found suited him a lot better. Less time around the same walls, trapped with the same people. 

As his shift drew to a close he headed over to his boss to say goodbye. The man was at the front of the station where they greeted the ships, and there happened to be one that was parking up when he got there. He stopped in his tracks as he saw the crew disembark. 

They were an assortment of races, but there was one that stuck out to him. Pale, green skin adored with darker stripes. Bright, golden eyes that were sharp and intelligent. Hooked nose with red curls that poked out from the edges of a familiar green hat. 

He grimaced as the golden eyes looked over to him, face flickering with recognition. He spun on his heel and began a speedy walk to his shuttle. 

“Wait!” 

_ Shit. Shit, shit, shit.  _

“Hey, hang on a second!” 

The voice was getting closer. He walked faster. 

“Craig!” he heard the gruff voice of his boss call out. “Customer wants to speak to ya’!” 

He sucked in a breath, his feet slowing to a stop. His boss. His fucking boss had outed him. That absolute bastard – couldn’t he see Craig was in a hurry? A hurry to get away? 

He heard footsteps stop behind him. He waited for whatever it was he was about to be dragged into. 

“You’re from Stan’s neck of the woods.” 

Craig shut his eyes, saying a silent prayer, before turning to the alien behind him. “I am. Who’re you?” 

The guy huffed out at his question. “You know who I am. I’ve met you before.” 

“Have you? I don’t remember.” 

“I’m looking for a lift to Stan’s farm. Can I…can I catch a ride?” 

He glanced behind his shoulder, where the alien was looking. There was the lot where his shuttle was parked. He looked back with a scowl. “What, to Stan’s farm?” 

The alien nodded, wide-eyed and hopeful. 

“You want me to drive you all the way out to the Marsh’s? Are you fucking-?!” 

“There a problem, Craig?” 

He looked up, gritting his teeth as he saw his boss approach. “No, sir. I was just finishing.” 

The man’s dark eyes fell on the alien, looking him up and down. “Anythin’ I can help ya with, kid?” 

“Oh, uh, no, it’s fine. I was just…looking for a ride.” 

“You know this kid, Craig?” 

Craig hesitated. He thought about denying any connection at all. But the gold eyes were less sharp as the brows pulled down, attention turned to the floor. “Yeah, I do. I’ll be fine.” 

With the reminder he was being watched – probably from his boss in an attempt to keep his temper in check – the older man turned and disappeared back to their other customers. Craig watched, waiting till he was out of earshot before speaking again. 

“Why do you need to get to the farm? Can’t you just – ring him to get him to pick you up?” 

“I’ve been out for days. My communicator’s broke, else I would. I’ve been trying to hitchhike my way there, but…once you get out to the colonies, it’s not so easy.” 

He wanted to say no, he really did. But he just felt like an asshole, telling the man that he wasn’t going to help. Ditching some strange alien at the station to try and ask strangers to take him out to the far reaches where the crystal farm was. He knew the way. He’d been before. 

He heaved a sigh to let it be known what a pain in the ass it was, before saying: “Alright. C’mon then.” 

Gold eyes looked up, sparkling with a wide, toothy smile. “Really?” 

“Yeah, really. Just – if you piss me off, I’ll kick you out, got it?” 

“I’ll be as un-annoying as possible. I promise.” 

He turned away from the confident smile, feeling his heart skip, and instead lead the way to his shuttle in silence. The way the alien’s attitude bounced back so easily had him wondering if his heart had been played with a little. 

His shuttle was nothing too fancy. Something basic that got him from A to B, pretty small compared to the ships that he worked on. It had been topped up while he worked, and it would get them from one side of the colony to the other. 

It would be a long journey. 

“I’m Kyle, by the way.” 

Craig looked down at the redheaded alien settled into the secondary pilot seat. “Cool.” 

“Just in case you didn’t remember,” he added. “Your name was Craig, yeah?” 

“Yeah. Craig.” 

He settled into his own seat and prepared the ship. They departed the station and as they set  off he could practically feel the person next to him vibrating with energy. If he had been travelling for that long, he was probably glad to have the edge of his journey in sight. 

“So, Craig,” Kyle started after barely five minutes had passed. “Is that where you work?” 

“Yes, it is. I’m a mechanic.” 

“It’s pretty cool. You must see some impressive ships?”

“I guess. We’re not a particularly big colony.” 

He gave low hum that sounded a little like a cricket chirping. “It was a bit of a struggle to get this far out.” 

“How long have you been travelling?” 

“A four days in total, probably.” 

He glanced over, eyeing his passenger up as he tried to decide if he should ask  _ why  _ the alien was trying to hitchhike his way out to Earthling colonies. There was a distant smile on his face, one that didn’t quite reach his eyes that swam golden as they looked out the window. 

Eyes that turned to look at him. 

He looked back to the highway ahead of them. 

“Do you really not remember me?” 

He huffed. “I remember you.” 

“Why did you pretend you didn’t?” 

“I knew you were gonna drag me into something.” 

Kyle laughed. “You must remember me pretty well then?” 

He flushed a bit at the question, feeling a thud in his chest. “Unfortunately.” 

Kyle fell silent. He dared to glance over. He groaned at the pathetic look on his face. 

“Don’t take it too seriously. I’ve just had a long day.” 

“I…sorry, for making you ride out to the farm. I hope you don’t live too far in the opposite direction?” 

“I live on C-3B.” 

“You live on world?” 

“Yeah, I do.” 

“Is it not troublesome to work off-planet then?” 

He shrugged. “I enjoy it. The station is nice.” 

“I get that. Sometimes being on world feels too…” 

“Crowded?” 

“Settled.” 

Craig snorted. “Settled?” 

“Yeah! Y’know, there’s no adventure to it. Statistically speaking, people who live on world rarely travel past their own cluster!” 

“That why you’re hitchhiking across the galaxy? Adventure?” 

There was that smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Something like that.” 

He turned away from Kyle and tried to set his mind on where they were going. 

“Are you telling me you’ve never gone much further than your cluster?” 

“What happened to you being as un-annoying as possible?” 

A low chuckle. That sound of crickets. “Sorry, sorry. Just trying to…pass the time.” 

Silence descended. He could hear the man next to him shuffling about. He glanced over to see him playing with his green hat, which was now in his lap. It was difficult to forget the boisterous kid that Stan had been friends with for years; in a colony like theirs, everyone always knew each other’s business, and it was true for Craig too who always tried to steer clear of the dramatics it could create. 

He snapped his eyes away from the green skin and pretended he wasn’t admiring the way it seemed almost iridescent in the ship’s dull lighting. 

“I’ve not gone as far as I’d like.” 

“What?” 

Craig grit his teeth and forced himself to continue. “I said, I’ve not gone as far out as I’d like. Beyond the cluster.” 

He glanced over to see the golden pools on him, a smug smirk on the redhead’s face. He clicked his tongue in annoyance. 

“Do you have places you’d like to go?” Kyle probed. 

“I guess. There’s a lot of places out there. It’s a big universe.” 

“I’ll say,” Kyle muttered. “There’s plenty of places that have really unique ships to them – have you ever seen a Hangar fleet? They’re incredible. That’s if – I mean, you might not want to go and see something that’s relating to work, I guess, if it counts as relating to work?” 

Craig raised a brow with a smirk, glancing over to see the alien scowling at him with a deep teal settling across his cheeks. 

“Sure, just let me babble on and embarrass myself.” 

“Gotta find entertainment in this somehow, right?” 

Kyle’s lips twitched into a smirk. “Y’know I’m beginning to remember you more and more too. Mostly about how you’re an asshole.” 

“Shame you didn’t remember that before you asked for my help.” 

Kyle laughed, open and unguarded. Craig felt himself stutter at the sound of it. The chirping that happened when he hummed was nothing compared to the almost-hiccups that the vocal chords did when he laughed. 

He wasn’t sure it was possible to forget Kyle, because he’d always considered the alien to be surprisingly attractive given that his dad was an Earthling, and his mum a Joozian. Attractive, and frustrating in how inquisitive he could be. In how he always seemed to want to engage Craig in conversation. 

It seemed nothing much had changed. Except now, he didn’t have an escape from the conversation. 

Thankfully he seemed to be willing to give Craig a rest. 

They continued their journey with the low hum of Craig’s music choice echoing around the sound system. He didn’t dare turn it up, save for disrupting the calm that was settling between them. He moved on autopilot as they headed out towards where the Marsh’s crystal farm was, seeing the planet he called home passing them by as they did. 

He eventually turned to look at his passenger. It didn’t surprise him to see that the reason for the peace was because the redhead was asleep. 

His lips were parted the slightest amount, and his head had lolled to the side, cheek pressed against the side of the chair he was settled in. Craig could hear his low breathing, could see his chest rise and fall. He figured four days of travelling would probably make anyone exhausted. 

He didn’t ignore the way that the green skin glimmered under the lights this time. He wondered how it felt; if it was different to his own. Something about how the genetics of different races could play together always fascinated him. 

“Are you staring at me again?” 

He flushed at being caught out, turning back to the front of his ship. “I’m not – I don’t stare at you.” 

“You do. You act like you’ve never seen an alien before.” 

“It’s not exactly usual for us,” he admitted. “Out here. They’re pretty human-centric colonies.” 

The alien next to him hummed in acknowledgement. Craig glanced over briefly to see the large, golden pools staring back at him. 

“I thought you were asleep.” 

He heard Kyle shift around. “So you were staring at me?” 

“Stop twisting my words!” 

The alien chuckled. “I was just resting my eyes. You’ve got a soothing heartbeat.” 

“You – you can hear my heartbeat?” 

“Yeah. It’s how I knew you were staring.” 

“Why?” 

“It changed.” 

He felt the thud in his chest, a mixture of embarrassment and panic. He tried to keep his breathing steady in hopes the person next to him wouldn’t hear it. 

The sniggering made him think he totally failed. 

“I should’ve left you at that station.” 

“Maybe,” the tone was teasing. The voice was light. “Are we nearly there?” 

“No, we’re not nearly there. The Marsh farm is pretty far out. Their station is kind of in the middle of nowhere.” 

“I never remember it being so far away.” 

“You probably also don’t usually spend four days travelling to it.” 

“I guess, yeah. Usually it’s more the express route.” 

Craig’s fingers twitched against the console. 

“You haven’t asked why I’m not taking the same route as normal.” 

“I felt like it wasn’t really my business,” Craig admitted. “Whatever it is that’s driven you to hitchhike across the system’s probably personal.” 

“I suppose.” 

He looked over. He scowled at the face that was already looking at him. 

Kyle smiled. 

He huffed. “If you’re itching to spill, I’m not gonna stop you.” 

“I just-!” Kyle hesitated. “I think I’m having like. An early midlife crisis?” 

Craig snorted. 

“Seriously!” 

“What makes you think that?” 

“I quit my job, and rang my landlord to tell them I was moving out.” 

He raised a brow. 

“I was so sick of the same people hounding me for the same shit day in and day out. Like, what do I care if it’s my dad’s company, y’know? Doesn’t mean it has to be mine, right?” 

“Right.” 

“But I didn’t want to go to my parent’s, because mom knew I wanted to quit. She told me like, last month, about how if I was planning on leaving it all behind I better have an alternative set up, because you can’t just abandon everything without plans to support yourself.” 

It sounded like something a parent would tell their child. 

“And then I guess I realised I didn’t really have any plans to support myself, and the guy I live with is…part of the problem. Or, lived with, I guess?” 

“So…you’re going to Stan’s farm…?” 

“I figured it was somewhere safe. And then it turned out it was also far away.” 

Craig couldn’t help it. He started to snigger. 

“Don’t laugh! I’m having a meltdown here!” 

“Sorry-!” he patted a fist into his chest as if it would help him calm down. “I just – it says a lot about you.” 

“A lot about me how?” 

“A lot about how impulsive you are.” 

Kyle glowered. 

“It’s not a bad thing.” 

“It’s…not?” 

He looked over, properly looked over. Properly took in the sight of the man before him, defeated and exhausted, crossing the galaxy with four  days' worth of time to think about his decision. To be glad for it. To regret it. 

“It’s not,” Craig assured. “Different jobs are made for different people. Sounds to me like the one you had wasn’t made for you.” 

“Do you think the one you have is made for you?” 

“I think it suits me, yeah,” Craig shrugged. “I’m good at it. It’s interesting, but not super difficult. I don’t have to interact with too many assholes.” 

“Guess you’re not the guy who does the front counter?” 

“Not if I can help it.” 

The chirping, thoughtful hum sounded through the room. Craig let the ship do its thing, and instead opened his star map, bringing up the galaxy map. 

“What’s this?” 

“You asked if I had places I wanted to go,” Craig explained. “I’ve been saving up to take a holiday. There’s a research station – here, called Altheia – which has been studying the local stars and-!” 

“I know this one,” Kyle sat up, whispers of a smile on his face. “Altheia has been attempting to predict a local supernova, so that they can study it from start to finish.” 

“Yup. It takes a while for a supernova to dissipate, so once it happens…” 

“You’re going to go see it?” 

He shrugged. “It’s the closest I’ve ever seen a station set up to one. It’ll be pretty spectacular to see.” 

“If they’re opening it up to public viewing, I bet the entry won’t be cheap.” 

“It’s not, but that’s okay. I’ve been saving for a while.” 

He pictured it in his head, thinking of the photos he’d seen so far of the station. Even the work they’d been doing would be impressive to see, he’d been following their research for a while. It was something he’d been looking forward to seeing since he first got told about it. 

He turned to tell Kyle as such, though he lost his words at the look Kyle was giving him. 

“What?” 

“Nothing,” Kyle shrugged it off, though there was still a smile on his face, and his eyes still swam liquid gold as they looked away from Craig. “It’s just nice to listen to people talk about things they like.” 

He looked back at the map, reminding himself that Kyle could hear his heartbeat. He tried to take a few deep breaths to keep it steady. 

“Thanks for talking to me about this.” 

“Sure,” Craig shrugged it off, leaning back in his seat and looking over to the alien, who was rubbing the heel of his hand into his eyes. “You’ve got time for a nap. We’ve got a while yet.” 

“Are you sure you don’t mind?” 

“I’m sure. It’ll mean you can’t ask me anymore questions.” 

Kyle gave a low, reverberating chuckle. Craig’s lips twitched upwards. 

He didn’t disturb the sleeping man. He looked over when he heard soft noises that he assumed were meant to be snoring, smirking at the fact that even in his sleep he was making noise. It really shouldn’t have surprised him. 

It was easy to see when they were close to the Marsh’s farm. The crystals that they farmed grew so naturally in the environment, glittering and shining brightly, with a lone station in the middle of the field. As much as he hated flying all the way out there, it was truly something special to be able to admire a crystal farm. He opened his communications and put out a message for the station, happy it didn’t take too long for an affirmative response to be returned. 

He didn’t say anything until they were docking, descending into the bay of the station. The sound of his voice speaking via the comms to alert whoever was awake that they were arriving was enough to stir the sleeping alien next to him. 

“Are we here?” Kyle’s voice was quiet. Still half asleep. 

“Yeah. Stan’s answered,” Craig explained. “He’ll meet you at the door.” 

They settled and he got up to escort Kyle down, though he was pretty sure he could probably see himself out. It felt rude to just leave him to it. 

Stan was outside as soon as they stepped out, rushing forward with wide eyes that were trained on his friend, rushing forward to greet them. 

“Dude,” Stan looked between them as they arrived. “What – why are you here?” 

“I didn’t really know where else to go,” Kyle admitted. 

“You totally dropped off the map, I was worried about you.” 

Kyle smiled that wide smile. “I’m in one piece, thanks to Craig.” 

The pair turned to look at him. He felt pinned to the spot. 

Stan let out a breath of relief. “Thanks, dude. For bringing him here.” 

“Sure. It’s no problem.” 

“Do you want something to take back with you? Free sample?” 

“Your dad’s not gonna be mad?” 

“Probably not. C’mon, you can pick something out.” 

He was led through the hallways as Stan began to ask rushed questions to his friend, and began to feel a little like he was intruding. He caught snippets of the conversation, things that he already knew, and things that he didn’t. Something about the mystery person Kyle lived with, having told them all that Kyle would be back with his tail between his legs soon enough. 

It raised a few questions, and answered a few as well. He tried not to think too hard about it. 

It wasn’t any of his business. Judging from the way Kyle seemed to close up at the sound of this person he lived with, eyes flickering to where Craig stood, it was something he wasn’t willing to share. 

Stan showed him to the stock, insisting he took whatever he wanted as payment for getting Kyle there safely. He picked up some of the oils, knowing that his housemate liked them, and mumbled a thank you. 

“I’ll take him back,” Kyle offered, smile on his face as he addressed his friend. “I’ll meet you in your room, if you want?” 

Stan’s eyes flickered between them. “Uh, if you’re sure, dude?” 

“I’m sure.” 

Craig wasn’t. 

But he didn’t get a choice. Kyle grabbed his arm and began to guide them back through the station towards the docking bay again to where his ship waited. He asked about Craig’s choice, made idle chitchat on their way over. It felt like there was something he wanted to say. Craig didn’t press for information. 

“I take it you’ll be here for a while?” 

Kyle looked up at the question. “Uh-!” 

“Sorry, that was-!” 

“It’s fine,” he assured. “I don’t know how long I’ll be here. Hopefully a while, if they’ll have me. Just till I figure some stuff out.” 

Craig nodded, looking back up to his ship. “Right. Well, I’ll be off. I’m late getting home.” 

“If I am around for a while, I’m not so far out that I won’t see you, right?” 

Craig raised a brow. “I guess not. C-38 is your closest planet, even if it’s far. I doubt you’ll spend the whole time locked up in the farm.” 

A cheeky smile. “Hopefully next time you won’t pretend you don’t know me.” 

“Hopefully next time I won’t have to fly you half way across the fuckin’ cluster,” Craig snapped back. 

Kyle chuckled. “Maybe.” 

He felt his heartbeat begin to pick up. Kyle’s smile widened.

**Author's Note:**

> I've had such a bad week confidence wise, so rereading this and being genuinely really happy with it has been so nice. 
> 
> There's so much happening like out of fic wise in this universe (haha) that once I finish my current chapter fic, if I'm still happy with this one, I might make a little collection of stories for it. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed it!!!


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